Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Any of you out there in blog land have too much family living in the same place?? Some of you may not have kids or in-laws yet, but should they live in the same town as your parents this may become a problem.I hate going home. Mind you, Billings has a soft spot in my heart and I have fond memories there, but it's just gotten too complicated to go back. Here are all the people who vie for our time (which is usually a scant 3-5 days) when we go to B-town.My grandparents-the wonderful nose squeaking grand-masterMy parents-enough reverenting and establishing of new boundaries to last me a lifetimeMy sister-the only one I ever REALLY want to see when I'm thereMy brother-in-law, his wife and my niece-fun to be around, but I'm still working on having enough to talk about to fill a day's worth of interaction. Luckily, they're very forgiving of my lack of timeJason's mom- a busy teacher of Hudderite (kinda like Amish) students and also married to someone we try to avoid because of past family drama.This scenario can also have the third set of grandparents added to the mix, which is enough to cause Jason and I to split up our time there EVERY time we go. I (being a classic avoider of conflict) would simply like to do my own thang, but when you get the almighty GRANDKIDS in B-town everyone wants a piece. Maybe part of my tenseness and avoidance of it all is because it's not really me they want, it's my kids. Maybe as they get older we'll have to split them off to visit different parts of the family...or maybe I should just get it together and be a grownup...Nah!If y'all have any advice...I'd appreciate it!

Sunday, February 11, 2007

So, the family vaca was amazing and needed more than we thought. God's gift to me came in the form of space and silence to revel in print a deeper understanding of His plan.I have never read any book (outside the Bible) that so clearly lays out the relationship between the spiritual, physical and emotional aspects of life. God has clearly given this man great ability to piece together "reality" in such a way that it profoundly affects others. I felt like reading his book is like eating a complex, delicate and rich meal. You need to take each bite in and take your time finishing it. I can only handle a chapter (barely!) at a time...more would blow my spiritual top off!I'm sure not everyone would get the same level of insight or spiritual sustenance from this book since God designs everyone differently, but I highly recommend this book.

"The Spirit of the Disciplines" by Dallas Willard

Thank You Father for bringing me to this book at such a time for it to work for Your ultimate plan. God, draw my thoughts ever closer to You. Keep me from stuffing myself full of trite books. Amen

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

So, we're jetting off to Las Vegas tomorrow with the kids for a short family vacation. I know that's not everyone's ideal destination, but I'm extremely excited. We've NEVER taken a family vacation...we're always visiting family or going on a mission's trip. But Jason got the time off and Vegas fits our limited fundage.Ironic that He keeps using Vegas as a destination to display His pleasure at letting us have fun.